Sweet! Sixteen-year-old Carissa Moore snagged her place in the record books this week by becoming the youngest surfer to capture a prestigious Vans Triple Crown of Surfing contest.

Equally as inspiring is the teenager's well-grounded priorities — the Punahou junior has consistently put her studies first. She scaled back on her competitions for a year (as her career was soaring) to focus on school and simply enjoy the waves. Even after this week's big win, she put off celebrating, saying she still had homework to do.

"I've always liked school. You never know if surfing is going to work out, and there's life after surfing — so having something else to lean back on is important," says Carissa.

Indeed, Carissa's options look good. She has scooped up several amateur surfing titles, and now can add the Triple Crown's Reef Hawaiian Pro to her list.

The Reef Hawaiian Pro is the first of three contests in the Triple Crown; she won every one of her heats during the two-day competition in Hale'iwa, beating out many of the world's top-ranked women surfers.

Carissa's win now puts her in the lead to win the Triple Crown championship, which goes to the winner of all three events. And if Carissa gets her way, it will definitely be hers.

For now, Carissa goes home with a $4,500 cash prize and the support of a proud community for a job well done.